Chapter 9 - The Past Strikes Back
Three weeks later, when the wounds of the raid had healed and the estate was quiet, an uninvited guest breached the gates.
Richard Hayes looked like a ghost. Stripped of his syndicate status, abandoned by the Romanos after the failed hit, and drowning in debts, the once-powerful mobster stood in the grand foyer looking hollowed out. Two of Arthur’s guards held him firmly by the elbows, forcing him to his knees on the marble floor.
Arthur and Nora walked down the grand staircase together. Nora wore a crisp black dress, her head held high, looking down at her father not with fear, but with absolute, crushing indifference.
"Nora!" Richard cried out, struggling against the guards. "Nora, please! You have to help me! Carmine took everything! They're going to kill me! We're family!"
"Family?" Nora descended the last step, stopping a few feet away from him. "You sold me for three million dollars, Richard. You called me a defective asset. You told me I was garbage because I couldn't breed for your business arrangements."
"I was desperate!" Richard wept, his pride completely shattered. "Please, Arthur—Mr. Costa! She's a Hayes! Show some mercy!"
Arthur stepped up beside Nora, slipping a heavy arm around her waist, pulling her close against his side. He looked down at Richard the way a man looks at a cockroach on his kitchen floor.
"You didn't sell her to me, Richard," Arthur said, his voice cold as arctic ice. "You lost her. You traded a diamond for pocket change because you were too blind to see its value."
Arthur signaled with two fingers. The guards hauled Richard back to his feet.
"Where... where are you taking me?" Richard panicked, thrashing.
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"Back to the streets you built your empire on," Arthur replied flatly. "Let's see how much your name is worth when you don't have a daughter to trade."
They dragged him out into the cold Chicago rain. The heavy oak doors slammed shut, sealing the past out forever.
